IELTS Reading Practice Test- The subject matter of the IELTS reading in the General test version is different from the content of the IELTS reading section in the academic test version. The duration for this section is 60 minutes. Total number of questions asked is 40. Each question carries one mark. This section assesses the test-takers reading abilities and understanding of main themes.
IELTS Reading Practice Test- IELTS General Training
This section is sub-divided into three sections. Section 1 includes two or three short texts. Section 2 includes two texts. Section 3 includes one long text. There are a variety of question types for each section: multiple-choice, identifying information, identifying writers views, matching information, matching headings, matching features, matching sentence endings, sentence completion, summary completion, note completion, flow-chart completion, table completion, diagram label completion, and short-answer questions.
The first section called Social Survivor involves tasks about retrieving and providing factual information e.g. notices advertisements and timetables. The second section called the Workplace Survival focuses on workplace context like job descriptions, contracts, staff development and training materials. The third section called the General Reading involves reading extended prose of a more complex structure. The reading style is instructive and descriptive as is found in newspapers, magazines, fictional and non-fictional book extracts.
IELTS exam papers
In order to score high, test-takers need to practice questions and tasks from the sample IELTS exam papers and indulge in IELTS reading practise. There are several resources available on the internet that has full length IELTS reading practice tests. It is advisable to practice questions from these practice tests. One does not have to pay for these resources. Full length practice tests are available on IELTS IDP official test center. They have sample questions for all the sections that can be downloaded.
IELTS Essentials also contains full length practice tests for all the sections. Cambridge English is another website that offers free online IELTS sample tests and tasks. There are paid resources that offer full length IELTS practice tests. Cambridge IELTS students books with answers are considered to be the best in the paid resource category, as they have original exam questions from past exams. There are ten books and each book contains full length practice tests and tapescripts. Cambridge IELTS book 5 to 10 is generally recommended as it contains recent test papers and these questions are more likely included for the real exam. Test-takers can time the exam, through these practice tests.
Most of the IELTS exam papers have instructions. So, test-takers can read them thoroughly as similar instructions will be given for the real exam. This would help in saving time while going through the instructions during the real exam.
IELTS sample questions
Besides going through IELTS reading practice tests, test-takers can also practice the sample questions and tasks for the reading section, which is available on the official IELTS website. Various kinds of sample reading tasks are readily available on the internet. These are free resources and can be downloaded. Test-takers can read all the passages to get acquainted with the type of texts that would appear for the exam.
Marking the IELTS Reading Test (General Training)
The IELTS answer sheets are marked by certified markers. After all the answer sheets are marked, they are handed to the Cambridge English Language Assessment for analysis. The scores are then translated into the IELTS 9 band scale.
